My friend, John Till, was Janis Joplin’s guitarist in both the Kozmic Blues and Full Tilt Boogie bands and played on this album. Released in January, 1971, Pearl shot to the top spot on the Billboard 200 by mid-February and stayed there for nine weeks. It would eventually be certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Association of America and go on to sell more than 8 million copies.
And counting.
The fact the album exists at all is remarkable, considering Janis died halfway through the recording sessions and it pretty much had to be cobbled together from whatever had already been committed to tape by that time.
The song Buried Alive In The Blues is an instrumental only because Janis never got around to recording a vocal track, which she was scheduled to do the day she died. “We almost had it,” John told me. “But Janis was tired. She said she was going to wait until the next day before having another run at it. But, of course, that never happened.”
It’s an incredible instrumental, though - recorded live in the studio - and the rest of the LP holds up equally well, a testament to what could have been - should have been - had Janis not so tragically stumbled in a moment of weakness.
Full Tilt Boogie was the band she always wanted: talented, focused and utterly devoted to the vision she wanted to create.
Like Buried Alive In The Blues, the rest of the album was recorded live off the floor with very few overdubs. It has withstood the hard test of time, remaining relevant in a world where music has since become just another commodity.
Pearl is firmly lodged at #125 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.
My copy is the Columbia audiophile version, sourced from the original analogue masters and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, released in 2012. It’s also signed by John.
For the last couple of years I've been helping John write his biography. Here's an excerpt. It takes place two weeks before Janis died.
John looked up into the control room, which was several steps above the studio floor. Janis looked down at him and smiled. “I’ve got this,” she seemed to be saying. Before long she made her way back to the vocal booth for another try. Again, it ended abruptly with Janis shaking her head. But everybody knew she’d get there eventually. She always did. Afternoon turned into evening. Then it was night. While Janis worked with Paul on the vocals the band managed to get a suitable music track onto tape.
But it was getting late and Janis’ voice had had enough. She announced she was going to wait until morning to have another go at the vocals, and with that the day’s session concluded. John said goodnight and made his way back to the Landmark Hotel and his wife and young son. He told Dorcas - his wife - that he was happy with the way things were progressing in the studio and was looking forward to putting the finishing touches on Buried Alive In The Blues the next morning. Everybody was working hard, he told her. The band was tight and focused. He also told her they still didn’t have enough songs for an entire record, although Janis was constantly bringing new material to the studio to try out.
Two weeks earlier, on September 19th, she’d cut a demo of a song she thought might be a contender called Mercedes Benz. Janis wasn’t sure it fit the band’s style, so she decided to make the demo and let Rothchild make the final decision. During a lunch break while the rest of the band headed out in search of something to eat, John and Janis stayed behind to work on the demo. John watched Janis record two quick takes of the song back to back, just her alone in the studio and with no one else watching. Just her voice. “I was standing in the doorway watching,” John remembers. “It was just her in there and it was just a rough vocal track. But there was something special about it.
Afterwards, Janis and John went to a nearby diner for lunch. John ordered a corned beef sandwich and a bottle of Cel-Ray, his drink of choice at the time. Flavoured with celery and fizzy, imported from Japan. Janis ordered a beer and they talked about the progress the band was making with the record. She told John that Full Tilt Boogie was the dream band she’d always wanted behind her.
Someone had left a newspaper on a nearby chair. A photograph of Jimi Hendrix, who had died the previous day, peered up from it. John looked at Janis and said, “You’re not going to do something stupid like that, are you?”
Janis seemed surprised by the question. “No way, man!” she said, throwing her head back and laughing loudly. “I’m having way too much fun to check out now!”
This is an excellent record that perfectly showcases the talent of an incredible band that was committed to reaching a goal and got there despite challenges no other group of musicians could likely withstand, including the death of their lead singer and the lack of enough suitable material to complete the project nat hand. Yet - somehow - they managed to overcome everything that was thrown at them and managed to release an exceptional - an iconic - record that still stands up today. The playing is outrageously good, the vinyl is quiet and flat and the sound emanating from my speakers is warm and luxurious. Definitely …
My friend, John Till, was Janis Joplin’s guitarist in both the Kozmic Blues and Full Tilt Boogie bands and played on this album. Released in January, 1971, Pearl shot to the top spot on the Billboard 200 by mid-February and stayed there for nine weeks. It would eventually be certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Association of America and go on to sell more than 8 million copies.
And counting.
The fact the album exists at all is remarkable, considering Janis died halfway through the recording sessions and it pretty much had to be cobbled together from whatever had already been committed to tape by that time.
The song Buried Alive In The Blues is an instrumental only because Janis never got around to recording a vocal track, which she was scheduled to do the day she died. “We almost had it,” John told me. “But Janis was tired. She said she was going to wait until the next day before having another run at it. But, of course, that never happened.”
It’s an incredible instrumental, though - recorded live in the studio - and the rest of the LP holds up equally well, a testament to what could have been - should have been - had Janis not so tragically stumbled in a moment of weakness.
Full Tilt Boogie was the band she always wanted: talented, focused and utterly devoted to the vision she wanted to create.
Like Buried Alive In The Blues, the rest of the album was recorded live off the floor with very few overdubs. It has withstood the hard test of time, remaining relevant in a world where music has since become just another commodity.
Pearl is firmly lodged at #125 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time.
My copy is the Columbia audiophile version, sourced from the original analogue masters and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, released in 2012. It’s also signed by John.
For the last couple of years I've been helping John write his biography. Here's an excerpt. It takes place two weeks before Janis died.
John looked up into the control room, which was several steps above the studio floor. Janis looked down at him and smiled. “I’ve got this,” she seemed to be saying. Before long she made her way back to the vocal booth for another try. Again, it ended abruptly with Janis shaking her head. But everybody knew she’d get there eventually. She always did. Afternoon turned into evening. Then it was night. While Janis worked with Paul on the vocals the band managed to get a suitable music track onto tape.
But it was getting late and Janis’ voice had had enough. She announced she was going to wait until morning to have another go at the vocals, and with that the day’s session concluded. John said goodnight and made his way back to the Landmark Hotel and his wife and young son. He told Dorcas - his wife - that he was happy with the way things were progressing in the studio and was looking forward to putting the finishing touches on Buried Alive In The Blues the next morning. Everybody was working hard, he told her. The band was tight and focused. He also told her they still didn’t have enough songs for an entire record, although Janis was constantly bringing new material to the studio to try out.
Two weeks earlier, on September 19th, she’d cut a demo of a song she thought might be a contender called Mercedes Benz. Janis wasn’t sure it fit the band’s style, so she decided to make the demo and let Rothchild make the final decision. During a lunch break while the rest of the band headed out in search of something to eat, John and Janis stayed behind to work on the demo. John watched Janis record two quick takes of the song back to back, just her alone in the studio and with no one else watching. Just her voice. “I was standing in the doorway watching,” John remembers. “It was just her in there and it was just a rough vocal track. But there was something special about it.
Afterwards, Janis and John went to a nearby diner for lunch. John ordered a corned beef sandwich and a bottle of Cel-Ray, his drink of choice at the time. Flavoured with celery and fizzy, imported from Japan. Janis ordered a beer and they talked about the progress the band was making with the record. She told John that Full Tilt Boogie was the dream band she’d always wanted behind her.
Someone had left a newspaper on a nearby chair. A photograph of Jimi Hendrix, who had died the previous day, peered up from it. John looked at Janis and said, “You’re not going to do something stupid like that, are you?”
Janis seemed surprised by the question. “No way, man!” she said, throwing her head back and laughing loudly. “I’m having way too much fun to check out now!”
This is an excellent record that perfectly showcases the talent of an incredible band that was committed to reaching a goal and got there despite challenges no other group of musicians could likely withstand, including the death of their lead singer and the lack of enough suitable material to complete the project nat hand. Yet - somehow - they managed to overcome everything that was thrown at them and managed to release an exceptional - an iconic - record that still stands up today. The playing is outrageously good, the vinyl is quiet and flat and the sound emanating from my speakers is warm and luxurious. Definitely …
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, JANUARY 16, 1971
'Pearl,' Last Album Janis Joplin Made, May Be Her Finest
Janis Joplin's last recording has been released by Columbia Records; sadly, it's her most impressive one.
Miss Joplin completed the recording in Los Angeles just before her death on Oct. 4, 1970. It is called “Pearl,” presumably after the name her closest friends gave her.
“Pearl” contains 10 songs, two of them written by Miss Joplin. She produced a total of three albums for Columbia and an early one for Mainstream Records, but none approached the magnificence of her concerts.
“Cheap Thrills" best showed Janis Joplin the blues-rock screamer, and Pearl best shows her as an artist of diverse abilities. Her version of A Woman Left Alone, a slow blues, is exquisitely tortuous. Me and Bobby McGhee, on which she plays guitar, is unusual for her, a country song that she does in quite original style. It is somewhat eerie to hear her sing that song's chorus … “freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose … ”
Mercedes Benz is a piece of frivolity about praying for color TV and the like, sung acapella. Get It While You Can is a powerful blues.
Move Over, which opens the LP, is a hard rocker. Buried Alive in the Blues is an instrumental number that shows she had finally found a good band to work with.
The band, Full Tilt Boogie, consists of Brad Campbell, bass, Clark Pierson, drums, Ken Pearson on organ, John Till, guitar and Richard Bell on piano.
